Chapter Three
Voice of Truth

Giovanni put Val back in bed and adjusted the pillows. He pulled the blanket over her, accidentally brushing his hand against hers. Her skin was so cold, it made even him shiver. He backed away and took in the scene. Val, laying in bed, sickly and pale. Breathing unevenly and slowly, her Poke'mon surrounding her. They had a real, genuine care for her. They were around the bed, every single one of them displaying a nervous demeanor. Varric was the only one that was the most calm of them all, watching every thing that was going on.
Giovanni walked out of the room, his stomach felt tight and twisted. He grabbed the chair from behind the desk, and wheeled it out of the office and into the room. He set it in somewhere near the door and slumped down in it. This had never happened before, not to him at least. Varric looked over, noticing Giovanni's dazed state.
"How did this happen?" Giovanni whispered.
"Lack of food, probably," Varric shrugged.
"Lack of food," Giovanni repeated, "How did it get this bad this fast? It's only been what; three and a half days?"
Varric sighed, "We ran out of food three days before we came here. In those three days, she had maybe half a bowl of soup. So you tell me how it happened."
"And you didn't think to tell me this before?" Giovanni asked.
"Would it have even mattered to you?" Varric snapped back.
Giovanni stayed quiet. The Poke'mon was right. He wouldn't have cared earlier. He heard footsteps walking down the hall and seen Ned, heading toward the office. Giovanni stopped him and Ned backtracked to Val's open door and peered in. Something seemed wrong here.
"Was there something in particular that you wanted?" Giovanni asked.
"No. I was just coming to check in like normal," he replied.
"Good. Get food for the Poke'mon and Val right now," Giovanni ordered.
Ned nodded and left, returning shortly with the requested items. Everyone except Varric ate in a hurry. He, however, ate only here and there, too concerned about to eat too much at one time. Giovanni held onto Val's plate nervously. He wished that she would just wake up and eat. But he didn't think that she would willingly. After a few minutes, he turned to Varric.
"Try waking her up," he said, his voice a bit unsteady.
Varric jumped on the bed and started nudging her lightly. A little while later she woke up, groggy and confused. Giovanni immediately stood up and brought her the plate. She sat up slightly and looked at him through sleep filled eyes. She took it without questions and watched him sit back down. She ate only a little before setting the rest on the night stand and returning to sleep. Varric sighed and laid down next to her.
"At least she ate something," he said.
By now it was late at night. Giovanni stood up, "If anything gets worse or she comes to, let me know."
He wheeled the chair out and back into the office, leaving both doors wide open. After about two hours, Varric jumped down and left Ren in charge. He walked into the dimly lit office and found Giovanni awake and restlessly tossing and tuning on one of the couches. Varric quietly walked to the other couch and laid on it.
"Having trouble sleeping?" Varric asked.
Giovanni sat up; he didn't hear the Absol come in. He coughed and answered, "Ah. A little. Is something wrong with Val?"
"No. But I am curious," Varric started, "Why do you care what happens to her?"
Giovanni didn't answer right away. He simply didn't know. Neither did he have time to answer before Varric started speaking again.
"Are you afraid you're going to loose you most 'promising tool'? Don't be. You know you can find a new one to replace her anyway. And besides, do you really think that locking her in a room and starving her is going to make her give in? You're never going to be able to break that girl. Even I know that."
Giovanni was shocked by the Absol's vicious assumptions. He couldn't confirm or deny what he was saying, due to his speechlessness. Varric jumped off the couch and started walking toward the office door. He looked over his shoulder, "If you think that you can keep her here by brute force alone, you'd be wrong. She'll outwit you faster than you can think."
With that he walked out and back into Val's room. She was sitting up and had eaten the rest of the food on the plate. She greeted Varric as he walked in. He smiled and jumped on the bed. The rest of the night Giovanni didn't sleep. There were too many things running through his head.
The next day, Val had stayed awake most of the morning. She ate breakfast when it came around and even spent some time talking to Varric. It was mid-afternoon, after lunch time, when Giovanni came in to check on her. She was sitting in bed, laughing at something Varric had said previously. Her skin had color coming back to it and her hair was getting it's shine back. Even her eyes glittered with life, all of which he was pleased to see. He knocked to announce his arrival. She looked at him; he looked almost uncomfortable standing there, but kept and overall cool composure.
"I was just coming to check up on you," he said a bit unsteadily.
"I'm feeling... better," she said softly.
He nodded and stayed a few seconds longer, not saying anything, before turning around and leaving. She stared at the place he was standing; she swore that she seen him shaking slightly.
"Well, that was awkward," Varric said, breaking the silence.
She agreed, "I didn't expect him to check on me.'

Varric was now irritated by Giovanni's actions. Watching her eyes linger at the spot he was standing didn't help either.
"I'll be right back," Varric said abruptly.
"Okay?" Val said a bit confused.
Varric jumped off the bed and walked into the office. He didn't sit down or go on the couch, nor did he have any care that Giovanni was busy with some type of paper work. He just stood there glaring at him.
"Who do you think you are?" Varric said abruptly.
Giovanni looked up from his papers, surprised by both of the sudden appearance, and boldness, of the Poke'mon. He was going to say something, but Varric cut him off again.
"Your actions might be confusing to Val, but I can see right through you. Don't try to play the nice guy card to try and get her to join you. Since the loos of her parents,, she's been looking for a human companion to put her trust in. All you'll do is end up hurting her because all you'll be doing is pretending. We both know you won't ever care about her. You're not that way. And you're definitely not the person she'll be able to come to."
Giovanni was far too shocked to say anything at this point, nor could he defend himself. Most of what he said was true. But the truth had never slapped himself in the face like this before.
"I'm warning you; don't hurt her," Varric said and ran out of the office and back in the room. He jumped on the bed and cuddled with Val. She feel asleep holding onto him. But the night was sleepless yet again for Giovanni, but also for Varric. Neither one of them slept a wink.
On the sixth day, Val was finally called into the office. She came in and sat down, Varric at her side as usual. He glared at him, but Giovanni ignored it.
"So, I have a job picked out for you. You're going to battle all the new grunts on the first floor. She how strong their poke'mon are. Surely you can do that," he said.
Val was going to disagree, but she thought for a second.
"Sure," she said.
As the word escaped her lips, Varric looked at her just as in awe as Giovanni was.
"But I'll need to get some potions and antidotes first."
He agreed, in a frenzy. He thought his luck was changing, not that she was finally agreeing to something.
"I'll also need something to carry it back in," she said and pointed at her backpack, "And possibly some money."
She thought that the money would cause him to think but he only agreed happily. She grabbed her stuff and took the money he handed her. It was more than enough.
"Get changed. Ned will be waiting to take you to town," he told her.
"Ned's coming with?" she said a bit disappointed.
"Yeah. I can't risk you running away on me," he said with a chuckle.
"Of course," she said and gave him a fake, yet reassuring smile.

She left to her room and closed the door. Turning to Varric, she spoke quickly and quietly, "I need to catch you in a poke'ball. I don't want to, but in order to bring you along unnoticed with the others, I have to. Plus, this way no-one else can catch you and steal you away from me."
Varric thought about it for a minute than nodded. She rummaged around her bag and brought out an extra poke'ball. She threw it down and it opened up. A beam of light shot out and enveloped Varric, sucking him in. A couple of seconds later, she heard a distinct click and knew it was a success. She returned the others to their respective poke'balls and put them into her bag. She changed quickly and threw the Rocket uniform on the bed, leaving the boots on the floor. She secured the backpack and put it on. Val was just about to leave through the main door, but opted to use the one in the bathroom, just in case Ned was waiting in the hallway, which he was. She didn't want him seeing her poke'mon put away and suspect her of something. He turned and looked at her, "Let's get this over with."
They walked into the office and made their way to the door on the right, the one Ned came through with the Persian.
"Be quick you two. Thirty minutes," Giovanni said before they left.
After walking up a long flight of stairs, they made it outside. The sun was bright and the wind cool. It was a wonderful change from the dank and stiffed underground base. The mart wasn't too far away, which didn't give her a lot of planning time. About half-way there, Ned spoke.
"So your parents died, huh?"
She nodded. Talking and thinking with such a short time span would prove difficult.
"Where are you from again?" he inquired.
"Lavender Town," she said shortly.
He stopped in his tracks and looked at her, his eyes wide. She stopped, getting annoyed with his questions.
"H-how did it happen?" he asked very nervously.
"A recent fire at Poke'mon Tower," she answered, "We can continue this later, but we're wasting time."
He swallowed hard and walked slowly. Could it be possible? He checked every floor, every room of that place. All of it... Except for the door that was locked. Did he really screw up that bad?
They got to the mart and walked in. Val turned to Ned, "I'll be right back; I have to use the restroom."

"Be fast about it," she said.
She went inside the bathrooms and looked around. She had to think, had to be quick. As she looked around, the answer came to her. The window! She pulled back the curtain and opened it. This was it; her escape. She used the near-by sink counter as a stepping stool and climbed out. She landed on her feet, took a second, than ran. It was the fastest she had run in her life. But she had a smile on her face. She was free yet again.
Inside the mart, Ned was getting anxious. It had been ten minutes and she still hadn't come out. He asked a female shopper if she could check for him. She did and came back seconds later.
"There's no one in there," she said.
"Wait, what?" he said, not believing his bad luck.
"There's no one in the stalls or anywhere. I'm sorry."
"A window. Was there one? Was it open?" he questioned rapidly.
"Yeah. I think s. If I'm correct, it was open too," the girl said and shrugged.
Ned ran out of the mart and looked frantically around. He couldn't see Val anywhere. He cursed at himself and slumped his shoulders. Now he had to go back to Giovanni alone. Such bad luck today. He started walking back, wishing he was the one running away now. He made his was slowly down the stairs to the base and put a hand on the door that led to the office. He took a deep breath as he turned the knob, preparing himself to give Giovanni the bad news. He was absolutely dreading this.